Saturday, April 12, 2014

Singapore's O stands for art transit tour by art Outreach

Signed up for the free Art in Transit Tour organised by Art Outreach last Saturday and enjoyed myself lots lots.... a big thank you to Mr Ang, the poor sleepy hubby who got dragged out of bed on a rainy saturday morning to accompany me too.... heee

There are two options; NEL line and Circle Line and we took the latter one...

Was surprised to find out from the pretty and knowledgeable guide

that it was actually a 5.89 million LTA initiative to include a local artist's artwork at each of the station along the NEL and circle line. Reminds me of what one of my art tutor told us about New York where 10% of all building cost must be towards to installation of an art piece...

There were about 16 other people who had signed up, locals made up less than 25%.... guess not many Singaporeans are really interested in the arts as compared to foreigners... =S

The humongous piece of print behind the escalator towards exit A is titled "Let the show begins" by artist Lim Mu Hue

the Chinese musical instrument on the right is called a 扬琴, and i used to be able to play 2 songs with it during JC time when i was in chinese orchestra CCA... =)

the artist had even carved and printed an image of himself, the one in singlet and stripe pj pants, into this art piece

it's a collection of 7 wood block prints that was created by the artist over the years. It depicts what goes on behind the scene for various traditional street performances; wayang kuilt, chinese opera, chinese orchestra that were enjoyed by the early settlers of Singapore. It also portrays the struggles and working condition of the people during the colonial rule.

Sadly, the artist passed away soon after the completion of this commission and it was with the family that LTA worked closely with, that resulted in the recreation of the artwork prints on such a gigantic scale. It's printed on scratch proof glass and is installed at an angle for day light illumination.

It's a massive 3 ton worth of twenty thousand stainless steel circles put together to form multiple droplets in a station Artists' original idea was to use fibre glass to create the droplets but was rejected as it produces toxic gas in the event of a fire. Original idea was also to have the 'splash' at the base of the installation to be made of the same material but was once again rejected due to safety issue. there's definitely much thinking and rethinking involved in the creation of this lovely piece of art. Like what another of my art tutor said, "I love art because i need to think a lot" in response to a child who said that she loves art cos it's a subject that she "dun need to think"..... heee

located above both exits of the station is the artwork "The Perfect Motion" by local artist, Roy Zhang.

It is a series of sporting images of a Brazilian model with martial art background captured while jumping on a trampoline... =P

Was just thinking if it would be better and more resonating with Singaporeans if it were images of famous local soccer players such as Fandi Ahmad and Lim Tong Hai etc... (did i just revealed my era???.... oopx)

The artwork was based on Lord Louis Mountbatten's idea of painting his fleet of ships pink in wartime. His reasoning was that the pink, a mixture of grey and red, matches the colour of the sky and the sea during dawn and dusk which was a great camouflaging idea during wartime.

Though this piece of art is not really my cup of tea but i feel that it would be so much better if it was not matched with orange tiles and protected by reflective glass panels.... =S

The intent was to capture images of objects that are found in the residents’ homes, along the flat corridors and shared outdoor spaces along Dakota Crescent. It was an attempt to chronicle a visual history and narrative of the space before the station was built. It acts as a visible time capsule of the Dakota area.

The pictographic symbol includes packed stacking pigs waiting to be feed,

the wireless tower,

the iconic post office complex in the form of a postman

and many other structures of historical paya lebar.

The artwork aims to make viewers relax, smile and dream and at the same time share the special bond with history that made this area memorable to those who have lived and to those who visited the area."

This is the artist's memory of his dad's riding on his motorbike during the time where his family had stayed in paya lebar many years ago.

The artists had collected tiles from old shops in Paya Lebar which were undergoing renovation and painstakingly cut them into the various shapes and sizes to form the different icons.... the child-like designs with its vibrant colours appeals to me lots lots too... =)